ECONOMIC HISTORY
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- Versione italiana
- Academic year
- 2022/2023
- Teacher
- FEDERICO FRATTINI
- Credits
- 9
- Didactic period
- Primo Semestre
- SSD
- SECS-P/12
Training objectives
- The module aims to provide students with an overview of the main events and processes developed into the market economy and the consequent socio-institutional transformations, as well as to guide students into a critical analysis of some issues. Students will gain a general knowledge of the historical steps into the market economy and a specific knowledge of some processes and events. Furthermore, students will be given an essential toolbox for independent description, contextualization, linking, analysis and interpretation of complex phenomena in economics. Those students opting for supplementary activities (workshop) will additionally gain skills in academic/professional writing.
Prerequisites
- No exam record is required but, ideally, students possess a basic knowledge of microeconomics and macroeconomics.
Course programme
- The module focuses on the history of market economy. Its birth, development and evolution are considered in Europe, since the economic renaissance in the XI century until the post-IIWW. The contents are structured into three parts plus a brief introductory section (General, 2 class hours: introduction to the module; students’ opinion on teaching activities):
A | Europe before industrialization, 24 class hours, reference text n. 1: the return of the cities; demographic dynamics; main technology improvements; the development of companies and finance; the role of currencies; guilds, monopolies, and competition; the development of international trade; trajectories of economic development; the conditions for industrial revolution; insights.
B | From industrial revolution to the post-IIWW, 30 class hours, reference text n. 2: industrial revolutions; drivers and modes of industrialisation; the Industrial Revolution in England; industrialization in Continental Europe; emerging competitors outside Europe; economic slowdown and recovery; the years between the two WWs and the economic crisis; recovery in the post-IIWW; insights.
C | Italy from unification to the post-IIWW, 6 class hours, reference text n. 3: gaps and industrial takeoff; crises and wars; State-owned assets; recovery after the IIWW. Didactic methods
- Learning is structured into 63 class hours in Italian and 162 expected revision hours. Those students who regularly attend classes can opt for attending a workshop to complement the revisions and progressively gain and test the capabilities expected by the final exam. The workshop consists in preparing and submitting an individual essay for an expected load of about 80 hours to be included in the overall revision load. Essays will focus on the module part A and B—based on clippings from the reference texts nn. 1 and 5—and are expected to have a length between 2000 to 2500 words (excluding references). Clippings will be assigned during an introductory session in streaming extra the weekly class schedule. Supporting and supplementary activities will be delivered in Google Classroom.
Learning assessment procedures
- The exam aims to test the learning outcome with respect to all the objectives. Learning assessment is based on two tasks throughout all the contents and materials covered in the module: a written exam aimed to test the knowledge; an interview aimed to test the abilities. The written exam is structured into 8 multiple-choice questions (4 points each, one correct answer, no penalty for missing or wrong answers) and it takes 15 minutes. The interview ideally takes 15 minutes and it is structured into questions focusing on a specific module part and/or crossing the module parts. The overall pass mark is 18/32 and it can be obtained by adding the specific results in each task and then averaging the results from the two tasks: 50% multiple-choice task; 50% interview..
Multiple-choice task:
- general knowledge (5 questions, up to 20 points);
- specific knowledge (3 questions, up to 12 points);
Interview:
- ability to describe and to put into context (up to 8 points);
- ability to link (up to 8 points);
- ability to analyze (up to 8 points);
- ability to discuss and interpret (up to 8 points).
Those students regularly attending classes can opt for taking the multiple-choice written exam in two separate part tasks: a first task on module part A; a second task on module parts B and C. The pair of part tasks are structured as the same as the overall multiple-choice written exam (8 questions to assess knowledge learning outcomes). The overall mark of the multiple-choice written exam is obtained as a part-weighted average: 40% the first part task; 60% the second part task. The overall mark is then the results of: 20% first multiple-choice task; 30% second multiple-choice task; 50% interview.
Those students regularly attending classes can further opt for taking a workshop as an alternative to the interview. To get access to this assessment option, students are also required to attend the online training course (basic level) on the Unife Libraries resources and services (http://www.unife.it/economia/economia/corso-risorse-e-servizi-delle-biblioteche-unife). The workshop is scheduled during the class period and consists in delivering an individual workshop essay in about four weeks since it is assigned. The assessment criteria are the same as for the interview plus the following bonuses:
- accuracy of style and methods (1 point);
- extension of the bibliography (1 point).
Those students who opt for the workshop can submit the essay just once. Students missing to submit or failing the final pass mark or willing to reject the final mark can take a general interview. Reference texts
- Learning assessment refers to the following materials (listed sections):
1. CIPOLLA CM, 1993, Before the Industrial Revolution: European Society and Economy 1000–1700, Taylor & Francis: PART II Toward a dynamics description, chapters 4–10
2. ZAMAGNI V, 1999, Dalla rivoluzione industriale all’integrazione Europea, Il Mulino: pp. 13–157, 171–224;
3. BIANCHI P, 2013, La rincorsa frenata. L'industria italiana dall'unità alla crisi globale, Il Mulino: pp. 19–78.
Those students wanting to deepen their knowledge on specific issues considered during the class hours are suggested the following readings:
4. CIPOLLA CM, 1993, Before the Industrial Revolution: European Society and Economy 1000–1700, Taylor & Francis: PART II Toward a dynamics description, chapters 1–3;
5. LANDES DS, 1969, The unbound Prometheus: technical change and industrial development in Western Europe from 1750 to the present, Cambridge University Press: chapters I-II.
Additional readings can be recommended during the class hours.
All the other referenced texts are available in printed version at the Economics Library, one copy for on-site perusal only (English or Italian edition).
